Amrisa Niranjan Creates Vibrant Reimagined Realities of Caribbean Women in First Art Show
An Interview with the ‘Gyal Dem’ Artist
By Elizabeth Jaikaran | Brown Girl Magazine
The reverberations of pulsing reggae filled the intimate art space at Burger Walla in Newark, New Jersey on Friday, October 13, 2017, as the art series “Gyal Dem” made its celebrated debut. Amrisa Niranjan, a Guyanese-American artist, used old photographs of Caribbean women of all ethnicities as inspiration for her series of painted portraits, which reimagined the realities of their femme subjects.
She transformed their black and white proofs into colorful, playful illustrations that reclaim the narratives of Caribbean women with their powerful visual command — a command that was evident by the collective gaze of wonderment on the faces of all those in attendance at Niranjan’s first art show. The pieces were punctuated by displays of poetry written by the author on the topics of identity and social justice.
The owner of Burger Walla, Kai, spoke to Brown Girl about his decision to host the show after Niranjan walked into the restaurant, painting in-hand, seeking an opportunity to showcase her work in a space that has hosted some of the most renowned artists in the world. “It was fly to see a woman come up wanting to put up her own stuff,” Kai explained. “Her work is also in the tradition of the Diaspora and we’re about that. You have a culture that is Caribbean and you have a culture that is also Indian. So whether you’re Guyanese or from India, it’s just a huge community and I think this [art] shows a breath of that community.”
“She’s breaking ground here,” Niranjan’s mother Indira gushed.
